Israel Anton Zoller

Israel Zolli, was a Chief Rabbi for many years . He was born to a father who was a wealthy businessman and a mother from a long line of rabbis. Zolli earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy later becoming became a professor of Hebrew language at the University of Padua in Italy. During his early days in Italy, the Italian fascist leaders began excluding Italian Jews from social welfare programs and educational opportunities. Zolli was named Chief Rabbi of Rome after a vicious press campaign forced out the previous Chief Rabbi. During WWII Zolli was forced into hiding. As the Nazis swept over Europe, all three of Zolli's brothers were killed in the Holocaust. During his tenure as Chief Rabbi, he was recognized for his deep learning in the Scriptures and Semitic literature, authoring numerous books on these subjects. To the astonishment of many in the Jewish community of Rome after decades as a Rabbi, Zolli and his wife were baptized into the Catholic Church. Zolli said that while presiding over the synagogue service on the holy day of Yom Kippur in 1944, he experienced a vision of Jesus, hearing "You are here for the last time." His subsequent conversion was met with astonishment by the Jewish community of Rome, to which Israel Zolli stated: "I have not given it [synagogue] up. Christianity is the completion of the synagogue, for the synagogue was a promise, and Christianity is the fulfillment of that promise."